By HANNAH HILL
Finding out who is in a legislative delegation is harder than you think
Want to know who’s responsible for electing the DOT commissioners? Since this is how the people hold the S.C. Department of Transportation accountable – at least in theory – the list of legislators per Congressional district should be easy to find, right?
Wrong.
First, I searched the State House website. The list should be posted there, but it isn’t.
Maybe the website shows the Congressional district on each individual legislator’s profile page? Not there either.
How about the legislative manual? That’s your one-stop-shop for all things state government. No such luck.
Next, I turned to that source of all wisdom and knowledge – Google. Turns out Google doesn’t know everything after all.
What about the SCDOT website? Maybe it’ll show who is responsible for electing each commission.
Nope.
I called the SCDOT, and they directed me to the Senate Transportation committee, chaired by Larry Grooms. I called his office, explained what I was looking for, and that someone at DOT had directed there. The staffer said, “They did?”
Okay, then. Let’s go to the guys who elect them. I contacted a state representative. His answer: “Overlay the maps!” You have go.t to be kidding me.
The senator I spoke to wasn’t much more helpful, although he got points for trying.
In all of this, I was directed to the Joint Transportation Review Committee, which screens commissioner candidates before sending them to the legislators. I looked up the staff information, and – wouldn’t you just know it? The main contact number is Larry Grooms’ office number, and the administrative assistant is the staffer I already spoke to. Now we’re going in circles.
Also listed on that page are the House and Senate counsels for the JTRC. While you wouldn’t normally go to a lawyer for this information, I have nothing to lose at this point, so I called the House counsel. He was able to put me in touch with another House staffer, who he said – dare I hope it – would have the House list.
I called her and explained what I wanted, and she said, “I have it right here! What’s your email address?”
Wait, what?
In a very short time, I had the list in my inbox.
So here you go, ladies and gentlemen. The official list of who elects whom, brought to you at great trouble and expense. You’re welcome.
FIRST CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Commissioner: Jim Rozier
SENATE
Campbell, Paul District 44
Campsen, George District 43
Davis, Tom District 46
Kimpson, Marlon District 42
Grooms, Larry District 37
Thurmond, Paul District 41
Bennett, Sean District 38
House of Representatives
Samuel Rivers District 15
Joseph Daning District 92
Jenny Horne District 94
Chris Murphy District 98
James Merrill District 99
Edward L. Southard District 100
Harry B. “Chip” Limehouse III District 110
Wendell Gilliard District 111
Michael Sottile District 112
Mary E. Tinkler District 114
Peter McCoy, Jr. District 115
William E. Crosby District 117
Bill Herbkersman District 118
Leon Stavrinakis District 119
Wm. Weston Newton District 120
Jeffrey A. Bradley District 123
Shannon Erickson District 124
SECOND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Commissioner: John Hardee, vice-chairman
SENATE
Courson, John District 20
Shealy, Katrina District 23
Lourie, Joel District 22
Young, Tom District 24
Setzler, Nikki District 26
House of Representatives
Ralph Kennedy District 39
Richard Quinn District 69
Nathan Ballentine District 71
Kirkman Finlay III District 75
Beth Bernstein District 78
Mia McLeod District 79
Don L. Wells District 81
Bill Clyburn District 82
Christopher Corley District 84
Chip Huggins District 85
Bill Taylor District 86
Todd Atwater District 87
McLain R. “Mac” Toole District 88
Kenneth A. “Kenny” Bingham District 89
Lonnie Hosey District 91
Kit Spires District 96
THIRD CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Commissioner: Ben H. Davis Jr.
SENATE
Alexander, Thomas District 1
Bryant, Kevin District 3
Martin, Larry District 2
Massey, Shane District 25
Nicholson, Floyd District 10
Vacancy District 4
Turner, Ross District 8
Verdin, Danny District 9
House of Representatives
William R. “Bill” Whitmire District 1
William E. “Bill” Sandifer III District 2
Gary E. Clary District 3
David R. Hiott District 4
Neal A. Collins District 5
Brian White District 6
Mike Gambrell District 7
Jonathon D. Hill District 8
Anne Thayer District 9
Joshua Putnam District 10
Craig A. Gagnon District 11
Anne Parks District 12
Robert Shannon Riley District 13
Michael A. Pitts District 14
Mark Willis District 16
Eric Bedingfield District 28
William Hixon District 83
FOURTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Commissioner: Woodrow “Woody” Willard Jr.
SENATE
Allen, Karl B. District 7
Fair, Michael District 6
Bright, Lee District 12
Reese, Glenn District 11
Martin, Shane District 13
Corbin, Tom District 5
House of Representatives
Mike Burns District 17
Tommy Stringer District 18
Dwight A. Loftis District 19
Dan Hamilton District 20
Phyllis Henderson District 21
Wendy Nanney District 22
Chandra Dillard District 23
Bruce Bannister District 24
Leola Robinson-Simpson District 25
Garry R. Smith District 27
Harold Mitchell, Jr. District 31
Derham Cole, Jr. District 32
Eddie Tallon District 33
Mike Forrester District 34
Bill Chumley District 35
Rita Allison District 36
Donna Wood District 37
Douglas Brannon District 38
FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Commissioner: W.B. Cook
SENATE
Coleman, Creighton District 17
Cromer, Ronnie District 18
Gregory, Greg District 16
Hayes, Wes District 15
McElveen, Thomas District 35
Peeler, Harvey S. District 14
Sheheen, Vincent District 27
House of Representatives
Raye Felder District 26
Dennis Moss District 29
Steve Moss District 30
Walton J. McLeod District 40
Mary Gail Douglas District 41
Mike Anthony District 42
G. “Greg” Delleney, Jr. District 43
Mandy Powers Norrell District 44
Deborah Long District 45
Gary Simrill District 46
Thomas Pope District 47
Ralph Norman District 48
John R. King District 49
Grady A. Brown District 50
David Weeks District 51
Laurie Slade Funderburk District 52
Murrell Smith, Jr. District 67
SIXTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Commissioner: Samuel B. Glover
SENATE
Hutto, Brad District 40
Jackson, Darrell District 21
Johnson, Kevin District 36
Matthews, John District 39
Sabb, Ronnie District 32
Bright Matthews, Margie District 45
Scott, John District 19
House of Representatives
Roger Kirby District 61
Robert Ridgeway District 64
Gilda Cobb-Hunter District 66
Joseph H. Neal District 70
James E. Smith, Jr. District 72
Chris Hart District 73
Todd Rutherford District 74
Leon Howard District 76
Joe McEachern District 77
Dr. Jimmy C. Bales District 80
Justin Bamberg District 90
Russell Ott District 93
Jerry N. Govan, Jr. District 95
Patsy Knight District 97
Cezar McKnight District 101
Joseph H. Jefferson District 102
David Mack District 109
Seth Whipper District 113
Robert Brown District 116
Bill Bowers District 120
Kenneth F. Hodges District 121
SEVENTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
Commissioner: Mike Wooten, chairman
SENATE
Cleary, Ray District 34
Hembree, Greg District 28
Leatherman, Hugh District 31
Malloy, Gerald District 29
Rankin, Luke District 33
Williams, Kent District 30
House of Representatives
Richard L. Yow District 53
Patricia M. Henegan District 54
Jackie E. Hayes District 55
Michael Q. Ryhal District 56
Wayne George District 57
Jeffrey E. Johnson District 58
Terry Alexander District 59
Philip Lowe District 60
Robert Williams District 62
Wallace “Jay” Jordan District 63
James H. “Jay” Lucas District 65
Heather A. Crawford District 68
Carl Lovetta Anderson District 103
Greg D. Duckworth District 104
Kevin J. Hardee District 105
Russell Fry District 106
Alan D. Clemmons District 107
Stephen L. Goldfinch District 108
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